Yet another defeat for Congress at assembly election in North-eastern states, and Rahul Gandhi finally breaks his silence following the humiliation
Gandhi took to Twitter to tweet, “The Congress party respects the mandate of the people Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. We are committed to strengthening our party across the North East and winning back the trust of the people. My sincere thanks to each and every Congress worker who toiled for the party.”
Election results to Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura were announced on Saturday, March 3. While Tripura went to polls on February 18, Nagaland and Meghalaya voted on February 27.
Rahul Gandhi’s absence came exactly on counting day which raised a number of eyebrows. Even BJP president Amit Shah taking a jibe at his counterpart. On Saturday addressing a press conference Shah said, “Italy mein chunav bhi toh hain [There are elections in Italy too].”
On Sunday, March 4, Italians voted for a new parliament and coincidentally Rahul Gandhi is also in that country visiting his grandmother.
On March 1 he had tweeted, “May nani is 93. She’s the kindest soul ever. This Holi weekend I’m going to surprise her! I can’t wait to give her a hug…”
Since Congress showed poor performance at the polls, Rahul Gandhi’s absenteeism has had political opponents going for his jugular.
Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Giriraj Singh criticised Gandhi calling him a “non-serious leader” on Saturday.
“Koi neta apne karyakartaon ko chhod ke aise samay mein Nahi bhaagta. Non-serious adhyakh hain Rahul Gandhi [No leader runs away and leaves his party workers in times like these. Rahul Gandhi is a non-serious leader],” he said after results were declared.
In the latest rounds of the election, Congress faced a tragic defeat. Though the party lost deposit in Tripura and Nagaland, it managed to be the single largest party in Meghalaya.
However, even then it could not form the government with BJP outsmarting India’s Grand Old Party.